▪ I. † grow, n. Obs.
[f. grow v.]
The process or result of growing; growth.
| 1536 Act 28 Hen. VIII c. 17 in Bolton Stat. Irel. (1621) 141 Conveying of the wooll of the grow of this land out of the same, is one of the greatest occasions of the idlenesse of the people. 1590 Greene Mourn. Garm. (1616) K 1 b, The tallest Cedars haue the fairest growe. 1768 Ross Helenore, Rock & Wee Pickle Tow 62 I'll gar my ain Tammie gae down to the how, An' cut me a rock of a widdershines grow, Of good rantry-tree to carrie my tow. |
▪ II. grow, v.
(grəʊ)
Pa. tense grew (gruː, grjuː). Pa. pple. grown (grəʊn). Forms: 1 grówan, (3rd sing. pres. gréwð), 3–7 growe, (3 greowen, 4 grewen), 4–5 grow(e)yn, Sc. and north. groy, 4, 6 grou(e, (5 grawe, grew, gr(o)uwe, grw, Sc. and north. grofe, groyf, grufe, groo, 7 grough), 5– grow. pa. tense 1 gréow, 3 greowe, 3–4, 6 greu, 4 gru, 4–5 greue, 4–7 grewe, 5 grue, 4– grew; weak forms: 4 growide, grouuede, 4–5 groued, 5 grewed, growyd, 5–6 gro(w)de, 6 grode, 5 (8–9 dial. and vulgar) growed. pa. pple. 4 Sc. growine, 4, 6 groun(e, 4–7 growe(n, 5 grow, groyn, Sc. and north. grofen, growane, -yn, 6 Sc. -in, 6–7 growne, 6– grown; also 5 i-, ygrowe(n; weak form: 5, (9 dial. and vulgar growed).
[OE. grówan, pa. tense gréow, pa. pple. grówen, corresp. to OFris. growa, groia, MDu. groeyen, groyen, usually wk., once with pa. tense griu, (Du. groeien wk.), OHG. gruoan, only in pres. stem, (MHG. grüejen wk.), ON. gróa, pa. tense grera on analogy of róa to row, (Sw. gro, Da. groe wk.), f. OTeut. root grô- (see grass).
With the 15th c. northern forms with f, cf. Sc. rufe for roo, a. ON. ró rest.]
I. Intransitive senses. (In early use always conjugated with be, and still so conjugated when a state or result is implied.)
† 1. a. Of a plant: To manifest vigorous life; to put forth foliage, flourish, be green. Also of land: To be verdant, produce vegetation. Often associated with blow v.2 Obs.
| c 725 Corpus Gloss. 2138 Viresceret, greouue. c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxiii. §5 (Sedgefield), Seo eorðe..grewð & blewð & westmas bringð. a 1000 Ags. Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 243/32 Frondescere, growen. c 1000 Riddles xxxv. 9 (Gr.) Læteð hio þa wlitigan [wyrte]..blowan & growan. c 1200 [see blow v.2 1]. c 1205 Lay. 2014 Bi-heold he þene wode hu he bleou, Bi-heold he þæt corn hu hit greu. c 1340 Cursor M. 384 (Fairf.) Þe dry þe erþe calde þat kynge, and bad hit grow and frute forþ bringe. a 1400 Pistill of Susan 67 Heo greyþed hir til hir gardyn, þat growed so grene. |
† b. fig. To flourish. Obs.
| a 1000 Cædmon's Gen. 88 (Gr.) Him on laste sett wuldor⁓spedum weliᵹ wide stodan, ᵹifum growende on godes rice. |
2. a. In weaker sense: To have vegetative life; to undergo the process of development characteristic of living plants. Hence also, to exist as a living plant in a specified habitat, or with specified characteristics of form, habit, etc.
| a 1000 Boeth. Metr. xxix. 69 Se milda metod..fet eall þætte groweð Wæstmas on weorolde. c 1205 Lay. 8697 Hasles þer greowen. a 1300 Cursor M. 385 Alkin things grouand sere..in þam self þaire seding bere. c 1300 Childh. Jesu 987 In one felde þare nouȝt ne grev er bote gras wilde. 1419 in Surtees Misc. (1888) 14 The herbage that grewys apon the mote. c 1536 in Ballads fr. MSS. (1872) I. 410 Alone on the Toppe þer growde A brere. 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. ii. (1633) 234 The Chadlock groweth..among corn. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 209 The Palmeto..growes like the Date or Coco-tree save that her boughes are more large and round. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 324 This Pepper..growes in a shell, though without prickles. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 181 Green Beds of Parsley near the River grow. 1762 Falconer Shipwr. i. 492 Not fairer grows the lily of the vale, Whose bosom opens to the vernal gale. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1779) I. 246 You may judge..what must have been the height of the tree as it grew, when a cutting of it had such dimensions. 1808–80 Jamieson s.v. Catchrogue, Generally growing in hedges, it tears the clothes of one who attempts to break through. 1842 Tennyson Amphion 83 [They] show you slips of all that grows From England to Van Diemen. 1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus lxii. 49 A lone lorn vine in a bare field sorrily growing. |
b. transf. † (a) Of minerals (cf. 6 c): To be native in a certain situation (obs.); (b) jocularly, of other things.
| c 1400 Mandeville (1839) ix. 99 Fro Jerico, a 3 Myle, is the dede see. Aboute that see growethe moche Alom and of Alkatran. c 1540 tr. Pol. Verg. Eng. Hist. (Camden) I. 24 Iron allso growethe in the costes bordering on the sea, thowghe nothing plentuoslie. 1580 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 439 They want no Tinne nor Leade, there groweth Yron, Steele and Copper, and what not. 1613 T. Milles tr. Mexia's Treas. Anc. & Mod. Times 699/1 There groweth not any Mettall in Moscovia. 1632 Lithgow Trav. vi. 274 The doores [of stone]..in that same place where they grew they are squared. 1674 tr. Scheffer's Lapland 143 That mettals grow in Lapland..is only a conjecture of the Antients, and there is no certainty of it. 1748 H. Walpole Lett. (ed. 1846) II. 222 The yacht is not big enough to convey all the tables and chairs and conveniences that he [Duke of Newcastle] trails along with him, and which he seems to think don't grow out of England. |
c. Naut. (See quot. 1780.)
| 1780 Falconer Dict. Marine, Growing, implies the direction of the cable from the ship towards the anchors; as, the cable grows on the starboard-bow, i.e. stretches out forwards towards the starboard, or right side. 1794 Rigging & Seamanship II. 251* The cable grows on the starboard bow. |
3. With advs. or preps., forming phrases primarily indicating incidental results of vegetative development, but chiefly used transf. or fig. a. To become by degrees ineradicably fixed into, vitally or indissolubly united to († with) something, as by the process of growth. So to grow into one, to grow together: to coalesce, become united.
| 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, v. iii. 30 For euer may my knees grow to the earth,..Vnlesse a Pardon, ere I rise, or speake. 1606 ― Ant. & Cl. i. v. 32 Great Pompey Would stand and make his eyes grow in my brow. 1613 ― Hen. VIII, i. i. 10, I..Beheld them when they lighted, how they clung In their Embracement, as they grew together. 1631 Shirley Love's Cruelty iv. ii, Hip. The more you vex the more we grow together In honour and chaste love. 1640 ― Doubtful Heir iii. i, And I will say 'tis virtue, and that yet Your heart may grow with mine. 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. i. xix. 50 The Ureters are commonly two in Number, on each side one, sometimes two, and sometimes more, yet al growing into one before their Insertion. 1818 Byron Ch. Har. iv. cxxxviii, We become a part of what has been, And grow unto the spot. a 1822 Shelley Invocat. Misery 45 Clasp me till our hearts be grown Like two lovers into one. 1842 Tennyson St. Sim. Styl. 206 'Tis gone; 'tis here again; the crown! the crown; So now 'tis fitted on and grows to me. 1859 ― Gareth & Lynette 139 The Queen..sought..To break him from the intent to which he grew. |
† b. Hence, to grow to: to be an organic or integral part of. Obs.
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, i. ii. 100 Ser. I pray you (Sir) then set your Knighthood and your Souldier-ship aside. Fal. I lay aside that which growes to me? 1601 Holland Pliny I. 62 In time past it [Sicily] grewe to the Brutians countrey [L. Bruttio agro cohaerens], but soone after by the gushing of the sea between, it was plucked from it. |
† c. to grow out: to become obliterated by growth. Obs. rare.
| 1716 Lond. Gaz. No. 5457/4 With an (I) and a (G) clipt on his Buttock, but almost grown out. |
4. a. With especial reference to the beginning of vegetable life. Of seeds: To germinate. Of plants: To spring up, be produced.
| a 900 Kent. Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 69/7 Germinabunt, growað. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Mark iv. 27 Swylce man wurpe god sæd on his land..And þæt sæd growe and wexe þonne he nat. a 1225 Ancr. R. 404 O sond ne groweð no god, and bitocneð idel; and idel acoaldeð & acwencheð þis fur. a 1250 Owl & Night. 1202 Ich wat ȝef cornes schule growe. a 1300 Cursor M. 1140 In-sted o þi noþer sede, Ne sal þe groue bot thorne and wede. Ibid. 1262 Of our sin Moght na gres groue siþen þar-in. c 1420 Lydg. Thebes iii. in Chaucer's Wks. (1561) 377/2 For seld in felds groweth any corne But if some wede spryng vp there emong. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xix. 54, I thank the, lord, that thi sede sawes Emong mankynde to groyf so sone. c 1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) ii. 77 Als gude the tre had nevir growin Quhairof my speir wes maid. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 324 Sugar-canes grow without planting. 1685 Baxter Paraphr. N.T. Mark iv. 26–7 Man soweth, but God blesseth it; and we see it not grow, but see that it hath grown. 1842 Tennyson Amphion 80 Methods of transplanting trees To look as if they grew there. |
b. Of the grains of corn in the sheaf, etc.: To sprout, ‘chit’. Also with out.
| 1575 Durham Depos. (Surtees) 202 This last harvest when the corne was grown. 1740 J. Tull Horse-Hoing Husb. 261 Wheat..grow'd, plow'd in, or otherwise spoiled, is in no Danger [from Rooks]. 1783 Barker in Phil. Trans. LXXIII. 244 From the coolness of the season, and the unripeness of the barley, very little of it grew. Mod. The onions in the cellar have begun to grow. The potatoes have grown out. |
c. Of fruit, wine, etc.: To be produced by vegetative processes.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 6895 Almandes was groun þar-on. 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 123 Grete grouuede frut on þe grene braunchus. c 1350 Will. Palerne 1809 Bolaces & blake⁓beries þat on breres growen. c 1410 Sir Cleges 201 What manere of beryse may this be That grovyn this tyme of yere? c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. xi. (1885) 135 The v{supt}{suph} parte of thair graynes, and of all oþer thynge that growed to thaim yerely off þe erthe. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 108 b, No meruayle though of that grene blade growe no whete or good corne. 1526 Tindale Matt. xxi. 19 Never frute growe on the hence forwardes. 1547 Boorde Introd. Knowl. i. (1870) 118 They haue no wines growing within the realme. 1599 H. Buttes Dyets drie Dinner D 8 It growes of an Almond-tree-Imp, inserted to a Mastick stock. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 776 Here grows..this Fruit Divine, Fair to the Eye. 1725 Pope Odyss. vii. 157 The same mild season gives the..fruits to grow. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts s.v. Kermes, Pliny says..that there grew upon the oak in Africa..a small excrescence like a bird. |
d. transf. Of animals and their parts.
| 1435 Misyn Fire of Love ii. ix. 95 Brode horns and in gretnes horribyll of here wroyght that grw not ther on ther hedis tha sett. 1604 Shakes. Oth. i. iii. 145 Men whose heads Grew beneath their shoulders. 1632 Lithgow Trav. vii. 326 Their [flying Fishes'] finnes..grow from their backe, as feathred wings doe from Fowles. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 244 Methinks I feel new strength within me rise, Wings growing. 1677 N. Cox Gentl. Recreat. i. (1706) 78 Horns only grow upon the Male. 1866 B. Taylor Palm & Pine Poems 268 The child that from their meeting grew. |
5. fig. a. Of immaterial things: To spring up, come into existence as by natural process; to arise, originate, be developed as from a germ; to issue or spring naturally as from a stock.
| Beowulf 1718 Him on ferhþe greow breosthord blodreow. c 1320 Sir Tristr. 1273 In warld was non so wiis Of craft þat men knewe Wiþ outen sir tramtris þat al games of grewe On grounde. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 21 Where lawe lacketh errour groweth. 1400–10 Clanvowe Cuckow & Night. 32 Of that longing cometh hevinesse, And therof groweth ofte greet seknesse. 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas iii. i. 54 (1494) k i, For out of wronge may growe no prowesse. c 1460 Towneley Myst. viii. 326 What, dwyll! is grevance grofen agayn? 1473 J. Warkworth Chron. (Camden) 22 Lo, what myschef groys aftir insurreccion! 1534 More On the Passion Wks. 1276/1 God suffered the contagion of the selfe same infeccion, to stretche vnto himselfe to, and thereof to growe hys destruccion. 1572 J. Jones Bathes of Bath Ep. Ded. 4 Against such accidents as growe by reason of hote bathes. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies i. xx. 64 Heerevpon groweth a difficultie, which troubleth me much. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 400 The penaltie to thy transgression due And due to theirs which out of thine will grow. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 267 ¶5 The Parts of it [Paradise Lost]..grow out of one another in the most natural Order. 1847 Tennyson Princ. iii. 61 How grew this feud betwixt the right and left? 1855 ― Mand iii. vi. 3 As months ran on and rumour of battle grew. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 432 The States are as the men are; they grow out of human characters. |
† b. to grow to: to arise or come into existence to the benefit or injury of (a person, etc.). Also absol. with omission of to. Obs. (Cf. accrue v. 1, 2.)
the law of growing-to [= AF. dreit de accres]: reversion, escheat.
| [1382 Wyclif Luke xii. 18, I schal gedere alle thinges that growen to me [L. quæ nata sunt mihi] and alle my goodis.] 1390 Gower Conf. III. 12 For the fortune of every chaunce After the goddes purveaunce To man it groweth from above. c 1450 Bp. Grossetest's Househ. Stat. in Babees Bk. (1868) 331 No worshippe therby growythe to the lorde. c 1460 Towneley Myst. iii. 463 Then begynnys to grufe to us mery chere. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. ix (1885) 130 Ther mought therby groue perell to his estate. a 1483 Liber Niger in Househ. Ord. (1790) 47 Cloathing to be taken of the issue and profitts growing to the kinge. 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utop. i. (Arb.) 41 Reuenues and profytes that were wont to grow to theyr fore-fathers. 1587 Lady Stafford in Collect. (O.H.S.) I. 210 Nor [shall] any hinderaunce growe to theim by this demize. 1592 West 1st Pt. Symbol. §42 A, A Particuler estate which is onelie a Chattell..groweth either by the act of the parties, or by the law. 1598 J. Manwood Lawes Forest xvi. §10 (1615) 117 The forfeiture, that doth grow unto the king, onely for the keeping of mastiues within a forest unexpeditated. 1605 Verstegan Dec. Intell. vi. (1628) 162 Canutus, vpon the law of growing-too..tooke vpon him the possession of the whole Realme. |
6. Of living bodies generally: To increase gradually in size by natural development. (In OE. said of plants only, the usual word, both with reference to plants and animals, being weaxan wax v.) a. of plants. Also to grow away, to develop (well).
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxiv. §10 (Sedgefield), Hwy ne meaht þu onᵹitan..þæt eall se dæl se ðe þæs treowes on twelf monðum ᵹewexð, þæt he onᵹinð of þæm wyrtrumum & swa upweardes grewð oð ðone stemn? c 1400 Mandeville (1839) x. 117 The Hed smot in to the Eerthe and wax grene and is growed to a gret Tree. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. iii. 33 Great bushes, and wilde brambles, which in process of time..were so growen and multiplyed. 1593 Shakes. Rich. III, ii. iv. 13 Great Weeds do grow apace. 1624 Quarles Sion's Sonn. xiii. 1 How can my thriving Plants refuse to grow Thus quickned with so sweet a Sun as thou? 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. viii. (1840) 140 When it [corn] was growing and grown. 1883 H. Drummond Nat. Law in Spir. W. iv. (1884) 128 The living organism grows, the dead crystal increases. 1933 Jrnl. R. Hort. Soc. LVIII. 99 When..the requisite number of shoots are growing away well. 1961 Listener 10 Aug. 222/2 All Talisman plants will be small and behind all other varieties, but they grow away to produce good crops without any difficulty. |
| fig. 1414 Brampton Penit. Ps. (1842) 13 My gylt is growyn over myn heed. 1599 Daniel Ep. Octavia to M. Antonius li, Words still with my increasing sorrows grough. |
b. Of human beings, and animals generally, their limbs, hair, nails, etc. (when said of human beings, the word refers usually to stature).
The pa. pple. is used (now only arch. or U.S.) in the sense of ‘grown up’; see 13 and grown-up ppl. a.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 10596 Godd wald sco greu and clamb on hei. 1382 Wyclif Gen. xxi. 8 The child growide. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xxxi. 311 To make hem [nails] growen alle weys to ben as longe as men may. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy i. v, Well growe on heyght & of good stature. c 1450 Holland Howlat lxviii, And I sall gar thaim [fedders] samyn be To growe or I ga. 1486 Bk. St. Albans c. ij, Vnto tyme hir sercell be full groyn. 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 234 He was a goodly fayre and a beautefull Prince, beginninge a littel to growe in flesh. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iii. iii. 73 b, They do not suffer their beards too grow but above the lips. 1611 Bible Ruth i. 13 If I should haue a husband also to night, and should also beare sonnes: Would ye tary for them till they were growen? 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 648 The King keepeth his daughters when they are growne, for wives. 1634 Milton Comus 378 She plumes her feathers, and lets grow her wings. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 322 [Elephants] grow till fifteen, in that time mounting to foure and twenty foote. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) III. 228 Young elephants..he [the lion] often attacks before their trunk is yet grown. 1847 Marryat Childr. N. Forest iv, Edward, you must not think of showing yourself..until you are grown out of memory. 1889 J. A. F. Maitland in Dict. Nat. Biog. XVIII. 407/2 (John Field), The awkward English youth..grown out of his clothes to such an extent that [etc.]. 1890 V. Roseborough Reign Reason in Century Mag. July 349 And now her children were both grown, and her bad days past. |
| transf. 1847 Tennyson Princ. vi. 144 She..arose..Once more thro' all her height, and o'er him grew Tall as a figure lengthen'd on the sand When the tide ebbs in sunshine. |
c. Formerly said of minerals. (Cf. 2 b.)
| 1695 Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth iv. (1723) 215 The Metalls..which are lodged in the perpendicular Intervalls of the Strata do still grow (to speak in the Mineralists Phrase), or receive additional Increase from the Corpuscles. 1877 Huxley Anat. Inv. Anim. Introd. 2 In the well-known aphorism of Linnæus [Lapides crescunt..] the word ‘grow’, as applied to stones, signifies a totally different process from what is called ‘growth’ in plants and animals. |
7. a. Of things material or immaterial: To increase gradually in magnitude, quantity, or degree.
| 1382 Wyclif Exod. i. 20 The puple growide, and was coumfortid greetli. c 1450 Mirour Saluacioun 1377 That stone..in [= into] a grete mowntaigne grewe. 1482 Monk of Evesham (Arb.) 61 Her lyfe of thys world..in the whyche her synnys and mysdedys encresyn and growyn to her perdycyon and destruccyon. 1573 Satir. Poems Reform. xlii. 600 The Kirk..Had growin vntill ane greiter strenth. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, i. iii. 10 Our present Musters grow vpon the File To fiue and twenty thousand men of choice. 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 126 The Potters of old dwelt there..whereupon a heape grew to a Hill, and a Hill to a Mount. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 723 During th' Autumnal Heats th' Infection Grew. 1718 Prior Solomon i. 523 New moons may grow or wane, may set or rise. 1784 Cowper Task iv. 151 The needle plies its busy task, The pattern grows. 1849 Tennyson In Mem. Prol. 25 Let knowledge grow from more to more. 1852 ― Ode Wellington 16 Let the long long procession go, And let the sorrowing crowd about it grow. 1879 Froude Cæsar ix. 98 They grew at last into a thousand sail, divided into squadrons. |
† b. Of the sea: To swell. Also to grow high.
| 1600 E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 296 The seas growing high he came with them to Lisbone. a 1618 Raleigh Royal Navy (1650) 14 Maryners..who..are used to the tumbling and rowling of ships from side to side, when the Sea is never so little growne. Ibid. 35 If any stormes arise, or the Sea grow so high as that the Kettle cannot Boyle in the Fore⁓castles. |
c. to grow down. (a) To extend downwards. (b) To become less in height or in size; also to grow downwards. † (c) Of the sea: To subside.
| 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §100 Morfounde..wyll growe downe, and waxe whyte, and cromely lyke a pomis. 1530 Palsgr. 576/1, I growe downwardes, as an aged thing dothe that boweth, or stoupeth downwardes, je me decline. Ibid., I growe downewarde: I waxe lesse, or drawe towardes myn ende, je decroys. 1748 F. Smith Voy. Disc. I. 15 The Wind..in the Evening towards Eight was less, and the Sea grew down. 1847–78 Halliwell s.v., To grow downward, i.e. to get smaller, a common phrase in the provinces. |
8. a. To increase in some specified quality or property; sometimes with more or less notion of progress toward maturity. Const. in, † of.
| c 1375 Barbour Bruce xix. 638 Ane host..That ilk day growis of mycht. c 1470 Henry Wallace iii. 45 Adam, eldest, was growand in curage. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 12 b, Whom God almyghty..protected..vnto they were growen in the knowlege of the fayth of God. 1526 Tindale 2 Pet. iii. 18 Growe in grace, and in the knowledge off oure lorde and saveoure Jesus Christ. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 126 As I grow in hope day by day, through sundrie reportes. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 351 They..In mean estate live moderate, till grown In wealth and multitude, factious they grow. |
† b. To rise by degrees to (a position of eminence). Obs.
| 1622 Bacon Hen. VII, 140 The King..was growne to such an height of Reputation for cunning and Policie. 1651 Fuller Abel Rediv., Fox 381 It may seeme strange..that he grew to no place of more honour. a 1674 Clarendon Surv. Leviath. (1676) 146 The Clergy was grown to a wonderful power over the People. |
9. to grow on or grow upon (a person, etc.): a. To increase so as to be more troublesome to. Now only of a business or the like, to grow upon one's hands. † b. To gain ground upon (an enemy or rival). † c. To come to take liberties with (a superior), to presume upon, take advantage of (kindness, etc.). d. Of an affection, feeling: To acquire more and more influence over (a person). Hence, in recent use, of an object of contemplation: To gain more and more of (a person's) liking or admiration.
| a. 1603 Bp. Hall Serm. v. 9 How shamefully is this latter vice [drunkenness], especially, grown upon us with time! 1636 Denham Destr. Troy 410 Then their numbers swell, And grow upon us. 1667 Decay Chr. Piety xviii. 397 Divisions have come to grow upon us,..by neglect of practick duties. 1711 Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) III. Misc. ii. i. 61 This..is of a kind apt enough to grow upon our hands. 1774 Burke Sp. Amer. Tax. 12 The disgrace, and the necessity of yielding, both of them, grow upon you every hour of your delay. 1860 Reade Cloister & H. lxv, From that hour another phase of his misery began; and grew upon him. |
| b. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 817 The Christians still growing upon them both in number and strength. 1650 Cromwell Let. 2 Apr. in Carlyle (1850) II. 323 We hope..still to grow upon the Enemy. a 1687 Petty Pol. Arith. Pref. (1691) a ij, The Hollanders are at our heels, in the race of Naval Power; the French grow too fast upon both. |
| c. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. i. i. 91 Is it euen so, begin you to grow vpon me? 1723 True Briton xxxiii. ¶1 Having in my last Letter taken Notice by what Steps the Quakers have grown upon the Indulgence of the Government, 'till they have procur'd for themselves Privileges..beyond what much better Subjects..could obtain. 1741 Richardson Pamela I. 35, I thought her humble, and one that would not grow upon my Favours, or the Notice I took of her. |
| d. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 447 ¶2 The Love of a retired or busy life will grow upon a Man insensibly. 1796 Jane Austen Pride & Prej. vi. (1813) 16 Miss Bennet's pleasing manners grew on the good-will of Mrs. Hurst. 1798 Ferriar Illustr. Sterne i. 3 Particular attachments grow upon us. 1831 Macaulay in Trevelyan Life (1876) I. 174, I feel the whole character of the place growing upon me. 1883 W. H. Rideing in Harper's Mag. July 168/2 Hampstead grows on one, and improves with acquaintance. |
10. a. To advance in age (obs. or arch.). † b. to grow on (of a season, time, etc.): To advance, make progress.
| a. c 1477 Caxton Jason 67 b, Whan they were growen to age he deliuered to them his landes to gouerne. 1635 R.N. Camden's Hist. Eliz. i. vi. 54 A man well grown in yeeres. 1715 Pope Iliad I., Ess. Homer 24 As he grew forward in Years, he was train'd up to Learning. |
| b. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 287 For Winter was now growne on. 1615 Bedwell Moham. Imp. i. §39 The night groweth on. a 1625 Beaum. & Fl. Knt. Malta ii. iii, Ye know my businesse, I must leave ye Sir, My houre grows on a pace. 1655 Theophania vi. 182 The winter growing on, for the present [he] desisted from any further enterprise. 1695 Earl of Essex Lett. (1770) 265, I see such multitudes of perplexities growing on. |
11. a. To come or pass by degrees into, to (rarely † from) some state or condition. Also const. to with inf. Now rare.
| 1450–70 Golagras & Gaw. 960 Golagras at Gawyne in sic ane grief grew, As lyoune, for falt of fude, faught on the fold. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. x. (1885) 133 Ther shulde non off hem growe to be like vnto hym. c 1560 R. Morice in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 26 Specially grown into the Kynges favor by my Lorde Cranmers commendacion. c 1590 Marlowe Faust. xiv. Belike he is grown into some sickness by being over-solitary. 1596 Harington Metam. Ajax (1814) 14 We grew to be friends. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, iii. i. 161 Consider..How you may hurt your selfe: I, vtterly Grow from the Kings Acquaintance, by this Carriage. 1616 Sir F. Kingsmill in Lismore Papers (1887) Ser. ii. II. 18 Much dowting I shall growe into a Consumption. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 95 It is no Paradox (such an Olla podrida are we grown to) to say, we cannot see Audience for Preachers, nor Patients for Physitians. c 1665 Mrs. Hutchinson Mem. Col. Hutchinson 10 Growing into a familiarity with Sir George Carew. 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 31/1 The Cement all dissolves, and the Wall grows to be all of a piece. 1762–71 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) I. 234 His works growing into esteem, he was much employed by the merchants in painting portraits. 1825 Lamb Elia Ser. II. Superannuated Man, I grow into gentility perceptibly. 1867 Trollope Chron. Barset II. lvi. 124 He grew to be somewhat ashamed of himself. |
b. To develop gradually. Const. to. arch.
| 1530 Palsgr. 576/1 This mater will grow to a scabbe, or de ceste chose en prendra mal. 1535 Coverdale Ruth iii. 18 Abyde my doughter, tyll thou se what y⊇ matter wil growe to. 1548–9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Of Ceremonies, They [ceremonies] grewe dayly to more and more abuses. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. i. i. 79 If matters grow to your likings. 1601 F. Godwin Bps. of Eng. (1610) 216 Before the matter could grow to a full conclusion, it was otherwise ended. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. lxxi. 11 The days that grow to something strange. |
† c. To come by degrees to, upon; to arrive at, draw to (an agreement, conclusion, point, etc.). Also with on. Obs.
| c 1589 Theses Martinianæ 28 To growe to a point with you. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. i. ii. 10 Say what the play treats on: then read the names of the Actors: and so grow on to a point. 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. i. 55 To force the sopeboilers to growe to composition with them. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 72 K. Richard..thought it best to grow to some good end with Saladin. 1616 Capt. Smith Descr. New Eng. 52 But Chambers and Minter grew upon tearmes they would not. 1624 Massinger Parl. Love ii. ii, Stay, best Madam, I am growing to a period. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 160 So soone as hee was buried, they grew among themselves to an immediate difference. |
12. To become or come to be by degrees, sometimes with inclusion of the literal sense of increase of magnitude or quantity. a. with adj. or (arch.) n. as complement.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 6941 Þar þai [sc. wandes] gru, ne less ne mare, Bot euer als þai forwit ware. 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 252 Emperour alixandre egrest of princis, Þat is grimmest igrowe and grettest of kingus. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 215/1 Growe ballyd, calvesco. Growe blake, nigresco. 1506 Sir R. Guylforde Pilgr. (Camden) 61 The wynde grewe so contraryous vnto vs. 1615 J. Stephens Satyr. Ess. 245 Hee will grow frends with any man, that serves his stomacke. 1657 R. Ligon Barbadoes (1673) 61 When it grew dark, they lighted upon..the ship. 1679–88 Secr. Serv. Money Chas. II & Jas. II (Camden) 11 To Sir John Poulett, in part of 25li for a quarter to grow due at Lady Day next, upon 100li per ann. 1701 De Foe True-born Eng. 17 Here they grew quickly Lords and Gentlemen. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 263 ¶1 There are so few who can grow old with a good Grace. 1748 Anson's Voy. ii. xii. 266 Turtle now grew scarce, and we met with none in this harbour. 1784 Cowper Task ii. 713 Learning grew Beneath his care a thriving vigorous plant. 1820 W. Irving Sketch-Bk. I. 55 Time grew worse and worse with Rip Van Winkle as years rolled on. 1842 Tennyson Gardener's Dau. 5 We grew The fable of the city where we dwelt. 1874 Green Short Hist. iv. §5. 198 The Jews grew wealthy enough to acquire estates. |
b. with advb. or adjectival phr. formed with a preposition. Now rare.
| 1555 Eden Decades 61 So variable and vnconstant is the nature of man, that he soone groweth owte of vse, becommeth insolente and vnmindful of benefites. 1578 Lyte Dodoens v. xliii. 609 Albeit it be nowe growen out of knowledge, yet we have thought it good to describe the same. 1597 Bacon Coulers Good & Evill x. (Arb.) 153 The decay of a man's estate seemes to be most touched in the degree when he first growes behinde. 1632 Lithgow Trav. vi. 250 This Temple afterward growing in decay. 1646 J. Hall Horæ Vac. 145 Wrestling seemes to grow out of use; tis of ancient standing. 1666 Pepys Diary 25 June, Mrs. Pen carried us to two gardens at Hackny (which I every day grow more and more in love with). 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 256 The soldiers grew..out of all discipline. |
† c. To come to pass, to happen. Obs. rare—1.
| 1614 Raleigh Hist. World II. v. iii. §21. 492 Hence it partly grew, that the Carthaginians were so earnest in pressing Hannibal to fight. |
13. grow up. a. To advance to or towards maturity. Of persons, esp. in pa. pple.; cf. grown up ppl. a.
| 1535 Coverdale Ruth i. 13 Though I shulde saye: I hope this night to take an huszbande & to brynge forth children, yet coulde ye not tary till they were growne vp. ― 1 Sam. ii. 26 The childe Samuel wente and grewe up, & was accepted of the Lorde & of men. 1712 Budgell Spect. No. 313 ¶16 As soon as they were grown up to be Men. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas ii. vii. ¶1 When he saw me grown up to the age of fifteen. 1833 H. Martineau Loom & Lugger i. i. 6 If he did not mean the girls to grow up the greatest gossips in the neighbourhood. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 188 His children, one of whom is growing up. |
b. Of plants: To emerge from the soil, spring up; also, to grow to full size.
| 1611 Bible Exod. ix. 32 The wheat and the rye were not smitten: for they were not growen vp. 1840 Hawthorne Biog. Sketches, Mrs. Hutchinson (1879) 173 The beams of the roof still wear the rugged bark with which they grew up in the forest. |
c. Of a custom, state of things, etc.: To arise gradually, come into existence.
| 1596 Spenser State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 649/1 To suffer an evill to growe up, which he might timely have kept under. 1654 tr. Scudery's Curia Pol. 15 When..a particular accident grows up against a Prince, or State, it may suffice that the heads of some chief offendors be sacrificed to a reparation. 1847 Tennyson Princ. iv. 291 Thus a noble scheme Grew up from seed we two long since had sown. 1847 Grote Greece ii. xlvii. (1862) IV. 187 A dispute grew up respecting the city of Epidamnus. 1885 Sir C. S. C. Bowen in Law Rep. 29 Ch. Div. 295 A practice had grown up, which it was too late to disturb. |
† d. To become gradually closed in the process of growth. Obs.
| 1653 Walton Angler vii. 153 The Frogs mouth grows up and he continues so for at least six months without eating. |
e. To be sensible, mature; freq. imp.
| 1951 [see Chrissake]. 1959 A. Wesker Chicken Soup with Barley in E. M. Browne New Eng. Dramatists ii. ii. 212 Oh, grow up, Ronnie. You should know that by now. 1967 G. North Sgt. Cluff & Day of Reckoning xx. 181 ‘The Abbot who shirked his obligations hasn't lived!’ ‘Grow up!’ 1969 ‘A. Gilbert’ Missing from Home v. 55 You're surely never on that old game. You want to grow up, Dad. 1971 D. Devine Dead Trouble ii. 17 That was Dorothy's constant refrain: ‘Grow up, Nev!’..He'd show her who was immature. |
II. Transitive senses.
14. causative. To cause to grow. a. To produce (plants, wool, etc.) by cultivation.
| 1774 J. Campbell Pol. Surv. Brit. II. 652 They likewise grow some Rice and Tobacco, which is sent through Virginia. 1801 Gabrielli Mysterious Husband III. 8, I grow my own corn, make my own bread, cheese, and butter. 1828 Life Planter Jamaica (ed. 2) 55 As we grow only a certain quantity of Indian corn, be sparing of it. 1842 J. Bischoff Woollen Manuf. II. 149 We had the Duke of Norfolk's wool, grown in Norfolk. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 314 The whole quantity of wheat, rye, barley, oats, and beans then annually grown in the kingdom, was somewhat less than ten millions of quarters. |
b. Of land, etc.: To produce; to bring forth.
| 1847 Marryat Childr. N. Forest v, My garden will then grow more potatoes. 1876 Ouida Winter City i. 3 Toy trees, that are cropped as soon as they presume to grow a leaf. 1885 Manch. Exam. 13 June 5/3 The depressions, which are of course warmer..than the plateaus, grow Indian corn, millet, and wheat. |
| fig. 1825 A. W. Fonblanque in Westm. Rev. IV. 380 He seems to have flattered himself [that his mind] would, with⁓out sowing, grow knowledge. |
c. Of persons and animals: To let grow on the body.
| 1819 Southey Lett. (1856) III. 146 Have the geese and ganders entered into a resolution to grow no more quills? 1860 Rawlinson Herodotus viii. civ. IV. 348 When a mischance is about to befall any of their neighbours within a certain time, the priestess of Minerva in their city grows a long beard. 1897 M. Pemberton in Windsor Mag. Jan. 265/2 It was obvious that he was about to grow a beard. |
d. To cause to develop into.
| 1811 A. Bell in Southey Life (1844) II. 300 It requires a length of time to grow the boys, now on his foundation, into men. |
† e. To cause to increase, to enlarge. Obs.—1
| 1481 Caxton Godfrey clxix. 250 Whan dauid had regned vii. yere in Ebron he grewe [F. creut] and amended moche this cyte [Jerusalem]. |
f. Cryst. To bring about the formation of (a crystal); to cause (a crystal) to increase in size.
| 1911 [implied in grown ppl. a. 1 b]. 1915 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. CLXXXIX. 567 We can, by proper treatment, grow crystals that are nearly symmetrical and complete in their parts. 1950 Sci. News XV. 55 We start with our spherical crystal and grow it into a larger crystal by depositing more atoms on it. 1971 Sci. Amer. May 130/2 Diamonds are best grown from a solution of carbon in a molten metal such as nickel. |
g. to grow on, to keep (seedling plants) in suitable situations or conditions as they develop to maturity.
| 1947 R. P. Faulkner Commercial Hort. xix. 134 They [sc. cinerarias] should then be transferred to cooler conditions, and may eventually be grown on in frames. 1971 L. N. & V. L. Flawn Gardening under Glass xvii. 208 In March move [the Cape primroses] into 5 or 6 in. pots and grow on in a cool temperature. |
15. pass. Of land, etc.: To be covered with a growth of something. Also with over. So † to be grown about (i.e. surrounded by a growth), to be grown up (i.e. crowded with a growth).
These uses seem to have arisen partly from the indirect passive of phrases like to grow over, and partly from the intransitive perfect conjugated with be.
| c 1470 Henry Wallace vi. 716 That bog..Growyn owr with reyss. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus, Circunlita musco saxa,..growen about with mosse. 1611 Bible Prov. xxiv. 31 It was all growen ouer with thornes. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 539 This Iland is throughly growne with Woods. 1720 De Foe Capt. Singleton v. (1840) 90 The country held verdant, well grown with trees. 1748 Anson's Voy. ii. iii. 142 The country in the neighbourhood was so grown up with wood,..that it appeared impracticable to penetrate it. 1842 S. Lover Handy Andy xv, Its banks sedgy and thickly grown with flaggers and bulrushes. a 1885 U. S. Grant Mem. I. xx. 277 The field was grown up with corn so tall as to cut off the view. |
| transf. 1612 Brerewood Lang. & Relig. v. 38 Italy in that long time being grown well with their seed and posterity. |
▪ III. grow
obs. of grue v.1